More than 100 people are believed to have been killed Friday, May 24, 2024, in a landslide in a remote part of Papua New Guinea, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
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The landslide reportedly hit Kaokalam Village in Enga Province, about 600 km northwest of the South Pacific island nation’s capital of Port Moresby, at roughly 3 am local time, ABC reported.
Residents say current estimates of the death toll are above 100, although authorities have not confirmed this figure. Villagers said the number of people killed could be much higher.
Social media video show locals pulling out buried bodies
The Papua New Guinea government and police did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
Papua New Guinea is a diverse, developing nation of mostly subsistence farmers with 800 languages. There are few roads outside the larger cites .
With 10 million people, it also the most populous South Pacific nation after Australia, which is home to 27 million.